Senate bid to trim film tax ripped "as attack"

BOSTON -- The Senate took a swipe at the decade-old film tax credit on Tuesday, adopting a proposal to impose more stringent requirements for studios to qualify, which one of the incentive's House supporters said could deal a death blow to the program.

Sen. Michael Rodrigues, a Westport Democrat who sponsored the approved Senate budget amendment, said it would give the program a "trim," saving the state roughly $14 million to $15 million annually.

"I'm disappointed. I think it's been a great economic stimulus," House Majority Leader Ron Mariano, a Quincy Democrat, told the News Service after the Senate vote. He said, "It would be a shame to lose it."

In a rare standing vote, the Senate agreed 23-9 to incorporate the proposal into its budget bill, which will be reconciled with the House budget in a conference committee before being sent to the governor's desk.

Rodrigues and Mariano both said the Senate had not previously passed legislation to limit the program.

Gov. Charlie Baker in his first budget proposed phasing out the film tax credit.

Film companies can become eligible for the tax credit now if half their production expenditures are made in Massachusetts or if half of their principal photography days are spent in the state, under the law. Rodrigues's proposal would require those companies to either spend 75 percent or shoot 75 percent in Massachusetts to qualify.

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Rodrigues said the film tax credit operates much like a grant program, as film companies get a check for 25 percent of all qualifying costs. Mariano said other tax credit programs operate similarly.

"It's probably one of our largest tax credit programs," Rodrigues said. "We book about $80 million per year."

Both Rodrigues and Mariano were in agreement that despite the number of films set in Massachusetts in recent years, the movie-going public is not sick of seeing the Bay State on the silver screen.

"I think Massachusetts is hot," Mariano said. "I think what they're getting tired of is the uncertainty of dealing with Massachusetts as a partner. We've had the governor trying to change it. Now we have an attack in the Senate in an outside section, so these people are investing a lot of money and getting a mixed message from our state."

Mariano said that asking film companies to spend 50 percent of their production costs in Massachusetts is reasonable, but hiking that requirement to 75 percent would "effectively kill it" because the state doesn't have the capacity to handle a lot of the post-production work.

"This amendment will cripple the film tax credit and drive major film production out of Massachusetts, killing a strong and growing local industry, costing thousands of local jobs, and hurting small businesses across the state," the Massachusetts Production Coalition said in a statement. "Major productions that invest in high profile talent, spend the most in the state, create more jobs, buy more goods and services from local businesses, and have a greater economic impact on our cities and towns. The changes in this amendment will make Massachusetts noncompetitive, sending large productions and their good-paying local jobs to competing states."

When the governor tried to eliminate the film tax credit, he linked the proposal to an increase in a tax credit for low-income workers - something later partially achieved without affecting the filmmaking incentives. Rodrigues made a similar rhetorical appeal on Tuesday.

"It's hard to look into the face of a single mother who we have to say that we don't have enough money for their child-care credits but we have enough money to give to Tom Hanks or Will Ferrell," Rodrigues said.

Rodrigues said another facet of the legislation would limit to $1 million per individual salary the amount that could be claimed for tax-credit purposes. Rodrigues said that measure is intended to limit the state subsidizing a star's paycheck.

Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, a Gloucester Republican, spoke out against Rodrigues's amendment in the Senate before it was adopted, arguing that the tax policy creates good jobs and that productions have filmed all across the state since the tax credit was established.

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